


KingRiser Zi-O

by GoldenAbyss



Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Zi-O
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Card Games
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-22 12:16:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30038571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenAbyss/pseuds/GoldenAbyss
Summary: According to this book, average high school student Tokiwa Sougo is destined to become the demon king... of games?!In a world where Kamen Riders play trading card games to save the world, can Sougo take on the legacy of every past 'KingRiser' champion to become the king and save the world?Of course he can. But if you like Kamen Rider and card games then you'll enjoy the ride anyway.
Relationships: Banjou Ryuuga/Kiryuu Sento
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. According to this book

“Ohma Zi-O, your reign ends now!”  
“Huh?”  
Sougo didn’t understand why this boy in black had punched him, he only understood that the pavement was hard, his pockets were being rummaged through, and he was enjoying it all a little too much.

“Where is it?” The boy in black ignored Sougo’s wallet and phone as his hands travelled deeper below the waist.  
“Where’s what?”  
“Your deck! Where is it?”  
Sougo squirmed as he reached into his breast pocket, throwing out a starter deck, still in the shrink-wrapped package.  
“…this is it?” The assailant’s voice went from angry to unimpressed in an instant. “This is the deck you’ll use to conquer the world? ‘Poppy’s People Game’ ?”

Sougo tried to bow, flustered by the praise, but knocked his head against the ground,  
“Conquer the world is a bit much. I’m not that good… yet.”  
There was a sudden force against Sougo’s ribs, forcing him to roll over and get a better look at his assailant. Black hair, black pants, black top and black… cropped vest? Definitely not a standard school uniform. Some kind of athletic space goth?

“Never pick up a deck again, and you won’t destroy the world. And we won’t have to repeat this.” The boy in black said as he squatted down to get a better look at Sougo. He could barely believe the evil lord he’d lived in fear of would be taken down so easily.  
“I don’t… want… to hurt you…”  
“Huh?” The boy in black stood up scornfully, “A cracked rib would shut most people up. Maybe it’s sheer determination that made you the demon king.”

“Demon… king?”  
The boy in black’s expression turned to stone, but before Sougo could connect the dots, a boot connected with his face.

___________________________________

Sougo’s eyes opened, suddenly aware of a pillow beneath his head and an icepack above it.  
A dream? No. Dreams don’t hurt that much.

Sougo had been jumped before, but never quite like that. Usually, they wanted his wallet, or his phone, or his blood on the pavement. But never his cards, and certainly never while addressing him as king.  
Not that he minded that last part. It had a nice ring to it, one he had never considered before.

With an ache and whimper, Sougo sat up and observed the dining room that had become his bedroom. Had he walked home after the beating? Thinking about it made the pain worse.  
“Sougo? Are you awake?” A man’s voice came from the kitchen.  
“Uncle?”  
Two men entered from a side door, one, the familiar face of his uncle, Junichiro, a sage under a clown’s veneer. The other man was a stranger, a handsome younger man in a brown robe.

“Who-“  
“A pleasure to meet you properly, my lord. My name is Woz.” Junichiro and Sougo blinked in unison as Woz knelt before the bedridden boy.  
“Ah, um, this is the man who found you. He said some thug came for you… again. This must be some new monthly record. What did you lose this time?”

“No, still two off last June. He only took some cards.”  
“Cards? I didn’t know you duelled.” Junichiro frowned. His nephew had never shown an interest in duelling, or any form of conflict for that matter.

Woz’s expression twisted into a smile, far too wide for someone who had just watched a near-curb-stomping. Without warning, he knelt, swiped the pillow from beneath Sougo’s head, and presented a deck atop it.  
“If it’s cards you’re missing, my lord, then allow me to provide. This deck was fated to be yours. Take it, and assume your destiny of kingship.”

Not having learned his lesson from last time, Sougo tried to bow again, triggering a sharp pain through his chest. But beneath his fluster, that word resonated. King. It sounded better than before.

“Thank you, but I think I’ll keep away from cards for now. That guy said he’d be back if I took another deck. I don’t want to hurt him.”  
The men squinted at the last part. Wasn’t Sougo the one who got hurt?  
“As you wish. But if you change your mind, give me a chime.”

All three heads turned to the kitchen as the kettle boiled. But by the time they turned back, there were only two left in the room. They couldn’t help but double-take.

“What an odd man,” Junichiro said as he walked to pour the tea.  
“He seems nice.”  
_____

“Geiz, are you sure this is the right thing to do? Did you even get the right guy?”  
A lady in white chased the man in black, running with the speed of someone who had been one step behind for her entire life. Her white cape trailed behind her, an odd purity on the dirtied city street.

“Tsukuyomi. I didn’t think you’d follow me to this time. Don’t try to stop me.”  
“But he didn’t even struggle. No way can he be the Ohma Zi-O we know.”  
“No buts. This puts an end to the evils of our time.”

Tsukuyomi had her doubts, even as she reflected on the countless deaths she’d witnessed at the hands of Ohma Zi-O. Something didn’t seem right, as Geiz opened the box and spilled Sougo’s cards in a bin, a thought occurred to her.

“Who is this year’s champion?”  
“Kiryu Sento. Build. That hasn’t changed.”  
“And who will be next year’s champion?”  
“Zi-O. But that timeline won’t happen anymore.”  
“Then who will become champion in his place? Do you know who his opponent will be”

Geiz stopped. The last card slid through his fingers, never to be touched again.  
“Who cares.”  
“Don’t you think there could be something else at play? What if his opponent is worse?”  
“Don’t be absurd. Ohma Zi-O is the most evil overlord. If there is another, I’ll crush them myself.”

With that, Geiz walked away with Tsukuyomi in tow. They didn’t notice Woz approaching the bin, or drawing a book from its depths. But those passing by did hear him say this:

“According to this book, average high school student, Tokiwa Sougo, is destined for greatness. Once again, the cogs of fate have begun to turn. Rejoice! For soon, the true king will be crowned."


	2. Rejoice!

“Evolt… What you don’t understand is that Banjo and I are a best match!”  
“Are you ready?”  
“RABBIT DRAGON CHECKMATE!!”

These were the last words spoken by Kiryu Sento before becoming the 2017 KingRiser champion.  
His enemy was defeated. The crowd cheered. And, most importantly, the world was safe from an omnicidal alien menace.

Sento had always been good at measuring the variables, and he anticipated many outcomes following this victory. Renown, world peace, and acknowledgement of his genius, being the preferred ones.  
However, there were three confounding variables he never saw coming.

The first was Banjo’s proposal. Sento accepted, of course, but he never predicted that the hot-headed muscle man actually loved him. Sure, they had shared a bed for the last year. Sure, they had an unbreakable bond. Sure, they would do anything for each other. Sure, their minds and souls became intertwined as they killed Banjo’s father…  
Sento felt like an idiot for not having noticed sooner.

The second confounding variable was a time traveller stealing his deck. You’d think he’d come to expect such things after punching a black hole, being possessed by alien slime, and transgressing the borders between dimensions. But no, just when you think you’ve seen everything, reality throws a card-thieving gremlin boy your way.

The third was bumping into one Tokiwa Sougo while chasing said time traveller.  
To be fair, Sougo didn’t see it coming either.

“Sorry!” Despite being the one knocked to the ground, Sougo couldn’t help but apologise. But as he looked up, a light of recognition flashed through his mind. He’d seen this man before. The dark cream coat. The eternal bedhead. The bags under the eyes.  
“Wait, aren’t you…”

“The genius physicist, Kiryu Sento, in the flesh. I’m glad to see someone can respect their seniors properly.” Sento glared daggers at the thief, who had stopped to casually lean against a stop sign.

“The guy who got his watch fixed yesterday!”

“Huh?” It was true, Sento had needed his watch fixed. The fight with Evolt damaged the Hazard Trigger and, although he could fix it himself, he was short on time. Wedding planning had taken up his days and Monster Hunter World his nights. But even so, he hadn’t expected to be recognised for something so mundane against his greater achievements. “Oh, right. Your the watchmaker’s nephew. Sougo?”

Sougo went to speak, but was cut-off by the thief’s laughter, giving the unlikely pair a better chance to look at him. A short boy, couldn’t be older than sixteen, clad in some sort of blue leather dress. A necklace hung very much not on his neck, but diagonally over his forehead. If this would be the fashion of the future, Sento wanted nothing to do with it.

“And you are…?” Without a watch to compare to, Sougo was at a loss for the identity of the child standing before him.  
“Time Jacker, Uhr. But in a moment, you can call me Another Build.” Uhr couldn’t hide the pride in his voice as he played with Sento’s deck, tossing the box from hand to hand.

“Yeah. About that…” Sento snapped his fingers, and cards burst forth from the box, flying away from Uhr and assembling in a neat pile in Sento’s hands. “The title of “Build” is mine and mine alone. Not Katsuragi’s. Not my father’s. And certainly not yours.”

Uhr stepped back, astounded. He knew the champion’s Hazard Level was high, but he never expected literal control over his cards. But beneath the shock, a dark laughter emerged.

“Yo, Sento.” A deep voice taunted from within the box, still in Uhr’s hand.  
“No…” There was no joy in Sento’s voice.

Uhr joined the laughter, and waved the deck box. “Forgetting something?”  
“Pandora’s box.”  
“Pandora? It’s a box. Can’t you buy another one?” Sougo admitted the box was nicely decorated, a stony grey with some runic inscription adorning the edges. But it was a box.  
“You don’t understand. With that, he can…”

“Another Build will have to wait. For now, we can settle on Another Evolt.” Uhr closed his grip, and the box seemingly dissolved into his hand. “Henshin.”

Sougo couldn’t explain what happened next. One moment, the boy in blue clapped his hands together. The next moment, he was enveloped in a darkness that blotted out daylight. When he returned, the boy’s outfit had turned to an ever-shifting black, as though it were waving in a motionless wind. White rings wrapped around his arms and chest, seemingly floating in place, held by some mysterious gravity. But perhaps strangest of all, where there once were brown eyes reflecting a mischievous intent, there was a starless void.

“This is the worst…” Sento said with the flat despair of someone who had fought a hopeless battle a dozen times over.  
“It can’t be that bad.” Sougo smiled, obliviously.

“Oh. It can be.” The voice from the box and the voice from the boy had layered into one another, each word dripping with contempt. “Black hole finish.”

“Diamond guard!”

A few seconds before, the city street was full. Not necessarily with people, although there were some spectators, but full of stuff. Litter, traffic signs, store facades, cars. Then, for one one moment, there was a perfect black and silence. Then there was nothing. The concrete jungle reduces to a flat plains, devoid of any life beyond the three duelists. Where there once existed things, there was only a flat, grey nothing.

Sento stood in front of Sougo, arms out, a broad shield of seemingly broken glass surrounding them. It had withstood whatever had just consumed the street, barely.

Sougo didn’t notice Sento's change at first. It was subtle. His irises had turned from blue and red, and the seams of his coat glowed with every colour of the rainbow. He was screaming. Not with pain, his body was fine. But with anguish. Sougo didn’t know how many people had just died. But Sento did. Eight million, three-hundred and seventy-nine thousand, eight hundred and sixty two humans. Gone. He didn’t need to look around at the devastation, he intuitively understood the threat that had just been wrought upon the earth.

“EVOLT!!”

The scream rang through the air and the possessed boy could only laugh. But as the sounds echoed, the devastation reminded Sougo of what the boy in black had said.  
“Never pick up a deck again, and you won’t destroy the world”  
Destroy the world? He didn’t want to hurt anyone.  
He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it. He would do anything to stop it.

Blurred images flashed through Sougo’s mind, like lost memories from a past life. He’d seen this before. Pandora’s box. Evolt. Black holes. And at the centre of it all: Kiryu Sento, the genius, who was now on his knees, weeping for the lost. A hero forced to fight once more.

In that moment, Sougo came to a decision. For all the heroes too damaged to continue, he would carry their legacy.

“Woz.”  
There was suddenly a fourth figure among the survivors.  
“My lord.”  
“Is it true? If I take your deck, I’ll destroy the world one day?”  
“Yes, my lord. But if you do not destroy it one day, then someone else will, today.”  
“I see…”

The hesitation faded from Sougo’s face. He stepped forward, to face the childish monster. With a snap of his fingers, a deck of cards flew from Woz’s pocket into his hands.

“Evolt. I don’t know what’s happening. But I know you. And I know how to stop you.”  
“Oh?” Evolt’s laughter finally ceased. “Lets see what you can do.”

For reasons that made sense in that moment, but not later, Sougo pushed his deck against his wristwatch. Somehow, the cards glowed and sunk into his arm, his irises turned pink, and reflected a single word. “Rider”.  
In an instant, countless timelines passed by him, an understanding of the infinite seconds that make up the universe. Then it was gone, forgotten as soon as it was recalled. But from every moment he took something: Bravery.

Woz tried to withhold his excitement, but couldn’t help but speak up.  
"Rejoice! The one to inherit all Riser powers, the time king who will rule over the past and the future! His name is KingRiser Zi-O!”

“Time king? He’s a child. I will take great pleasure in putting him in time out.”  
Evolt’s words were dispassionate, but beneath it was a sense of joy. Finally: new prey.

Sento had stopped crying a while ago and was caught looking up in awe, unable to believe that this was same the kid who bumped into him three minutes ago. After a moment, he stood up, and patted Sougo’s shoulder.

“Alright kid. Not bad. You know how to duel?”  
“No. But I’ve got a good feeling about this.”  
“Alright! Wait, what?”

Sougo’s smile, while cute, was not particularly reassuring.

“In that case, shall we begin the experiment?”


	3. Unorthodox Match

“I’ll be primary, you’ll be my second. Got it?”

“Got it!”

What Sougo lacked in understanding of the situation, he made up for in enthusiasm. Sento admired that.

“Our turn. Draw!”

Five cards floated in front of Sento, joined by a sixth.

“Lets open the game with a summon. Are you ready, Red Rabbit?”

As Sento spoke, he tapped a floating card. From it extended a series of pipes, filled with a bright liquid. They twisted and wove together and somewhere between the motion of liquid and solid, container and contents, science and nature, a large, robotic rabbit took form in front of the heroes.

**Red Rabbit**

_Ally - Biotic_

_When this ally is targeted by a friendly action, draw a card._

_If that action is Abiotic, you may return this card to your hand._

_Power: 200_

“Awesome…” Sougo’s eyes were wide. He’d seen footage of card holograms before, but never expected to see them in the flesh.

“Lesson one.” Sento’s coat fluttered behind him. “You may control up to two ally cards, which you must summon on your turn. But we’ll end our turn here.”

“That’s all? You’ve gone soft, Sento.” Evolt was nonplussed by the rabbit. He’d seen it enough times to know exactly how it works “My turn. Draw. Allow me to give lesson two to your budding young pupil. You may equip 1 Weapon card during your turn. Equip. Steam Rifle.”

The rings on Evolt’s body turned, and from them came a black cloud. Not a storm cloud, or a cloud of exhaust. A pure, thick, black cloud which coalesced into a the shape of a long gun before solidifying in his arms.

“Summon. Blood Cobra.”

No sooner did the words come from Evolt’s mouth than a trail of red gas leaked from the rifle’s barrel. In a matter of moments, it reached the ground, it had formed as a snake, rivalling the size of Red Rabbit, a predator about to reach its prey.

“You give speeches about protecting the world, but you barely put up a fight.”

The rifle was levelled precisely between the eyes of the rabbit now, but the child held it lazily with a single outstretched arm, giving no respect to the lethality of what he wielded.

Sougo looked back and forth between the gun and the rabbit. But, as the trigger was pulled, Sento smiled.

“I may be soft, but you’ve gotten sloppy. Lesson three. Action! Tank Impact!”

Nobody saw where the blue tank came from, it simply fell to the earth as naturally a bird shitting on a statue. The bullet pinged off it’s immense form harmlessly, as the rabbit crawled into the seemingly oversized cannon.

**Tank Impact**

_Action - Abiotic_

_Sacrifice target Ally you control, destroy target Ally._

_If that Ally is Biotic, you may destroy a Weapon instead._

It was hard to tell whether the rabbit was fired from the tank’s cannon, or simply leapt out at a high-speed. But whatever the case, the impact of its movement shattered the snake instantaneously.

“Action cards can be used at any time. They don’t stick around, but their effects are massive. Which brings us to lesson four…” Sento did his best teacher voice as the tank dissipated, and the rabbit backflipped, returned to a card form, and casually fell into his hand.

Casually, as though it were an everyday occurrence to play a world-saving card game.

“Lesson four.” Sento started.

“Riser abilities!”

**Build**

_Riser_

_When an Abiotic action targets a Biotic ally you control, you may invent a weapon._

**Evolt Cobra**

_Riser_

_When an ally you control is destroyed, attack with your weapon._

“Equip! Drill Crusher!”

“Fire!”

No sooner had the oversized drill manifested in Sento’s hands than it dissipated once again, a smoking bullet shattering its conical structure.

Sento’s jaw dropped. “Cobra?”

For a brief second, Evolt flickered, the body of the childish Uhr and his black armour separating and dissolving.

“Please explain?” Once again, Sougo was lost.

“Our powers, the way we change when we duel, are called Risers. They have an effect that is always present. My power is Build. And his power…” Sento pointed to the threat, who was little more than a shivering child. “Is nowhere near as strong as he’d like us to think.”

“Shut up. It’s your turn.” Uhr’s voice was stronger now, cutting through the deep menace of Evolt with a brattish whine.

“Draw!” Sento’s coat fluttered in a seemingly non-existent breeze as his hand size returned to five.

“Lesson five. KingRiser is a game for teams. I am the primary, but a secondary player make two plays per round, on their teammate and enemy’s turn. Show me what you can do.”

Sougo looked around for a moment, he scanned his cards, not fully understanding their meaning.

“In that case… I’ll do… this!”

Sougo tapped his watch, bringing up a display of three holographic, floating cards. Then, he gave Sento a little shove on the shoulder. At first, nothing happened. Then, a lot happened.

**Zi-O**

_Riser_

_Turn a Riser into an armour ally._

Coloured pipes extended from Sento’s own jacket, akin to what was used to summon the Red Rabbit. But this time, they formed a box, a swirl of red and blue with the physicist trapped in the middle.

“Armour time!”

“Are you ready?”

The two ends of the box slammed together. But Sento wasn’t harmed. Much the opposite, he was now coated in a jagged red and blue armour, and posing flamboyantly. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu, as though he’d worn it before.

**Build Armour**

_Ally - Armour / Abiotic / Biotic_

_When this ally is targeted by a friendly action, draw a card._

_You may sacrifice this ally, destroy target ally._

_Power: 400_

“I’m an ally and a riser? Interesting.” The helmet covered Sento’s hair-boner, but his immense curiosity was clear in his voice. “Lets try attacking.”

The armoured genius leapt across the devastated earth with unpredictable speed, punching the stray child in his way. Uhr’s arms flew up, releasing the steam rifle and allowing it to return to gas.

Astounded his companion’s power, the genius couldn’t help but inquire: “What else have you got up your sleeve?”

“How about this?”

Sougo tapped his watch, and pointed to a floating card. Yes. That would do it.

“Time Jacker. It seems you’ve failed in both becoming Build, and Evolt. Your hazard level is too low to hold his full black hole power.” Sento spoke alone, before being joined by Sougo in perfect unison as the card was cast.

“The laws of victory are set. Action! Time Break!”

**Time Break**

_Action - Time_

_Target ally may attack an additional time this turn._

_If that attack causes a Checkmate, any player may discard any number of cards, then rewind time by that many minutes._

Sento, no, Build, leaped into the air and extended his foot with a kick. Empowered for a second attack by their action. Four of Sougo’s cards and five of Sento’s, plus one from build armour being targeted by an action. 10 minute not quite enough to turn back all the way. Uhr reached for an action in response, but stumbled back in pain. His eyes returned to normal, and widened as he saw the attack coming. The black armour separated from the child, and pushed the four cards in his hand into the air as it returned to the pandora’s box.

Build’s foot slammed into Uhr, a twisting vortex of space and time. Thirteen minutes total. Just enough to hold onto the deck box. Just enough to make sure nobody is hurt.

“Final lesson. When you attack an opponent who has no weapons, no allies, and no actions, that’s called Checkmate. It’s been a pleasure playing with you, Zi-O.”

For a split second, there was an explosion, then a whirlpool, like the whole world was water down the drain. Sougo blinked. Sento was gone. Uhr was gone. The destruction that had been wrought upon the earth was gone.

“Well done, my lord.” Woz was not gone. Sougo did not expect that. To be honest had forgotten that the tall man was there. “Build remembers what happened, he can handle the rest. But I have a question. How did you know I’d come when you called?”

Sougo smiled and turned away, admiring the street around him. It was filthy, filled with unknowing and ungrateful residents. But it was full of stuff, and that’s what mattered.

“I guess you could say… I had a good feeling.”

But when he turned back to face Woz, he was gone. All seemed right with the world.


	4. Doctor / Gamer / Time Traveler

”There’s nothing I cannot cut.” Kagami Hiiro’s declaration was proud as he separated a top-half of a deck and placed it beneath the bottom half. What had started as a CR meeting had devolved into a game of KingRiser with Poppy.

It was a slow day at Seito University Hospital. These weren’t rare, with the Bugster Virus eliminated, the CR Staff had more time than previously to mull about, but for some reason today was really dragging out. Hiiro swore the clock hadn’t moved in five minutes.

The truth was, it hadn’t. Seito University Hospital and all of its denizens had been frozen in time, with a few key exceptions.

First, the resident Bugsters and CR Staff.  
Second, the disruption’s cause.  
Third, Tokiwa Sougo and his stalkers.

Lets check in on them, shall we?

“What the hell is happening? Why are you so still?!”  
Thanks Sougo, very cool.

“Huh? Oh sorry.”  
Jeez Emu, way to bump into someone.

“Isn’t that…”  
Yes, Geiz, it is.

“How did you get in here?!”  
Through the door, Poppy.

Ok reader, time for context. After having very intentionally bumped into paediatric doctor and 2016 KingRiser champion, Hojo Emu, a rather conspicuous looking girl walked into an elevator, punched in an all-too-elaborate series of buttons, and entered the CR laboratory beneath the hospital.

Follow so far? Because Geiz and Tsukuyomi did. Although their intent was to stalk Sougo for a little longer, they couldn’t resist following a familiar but out-of-place face in the crowd. So here we are, in a supposedly secret underground base with a time-travelling girl dressed in powder blue with a mischievous smile; flanked by a time-travelling goth, a time-travelling anti-goth, a surgeon, and the human incarnation of a rhythm game mascot.

“Ora, what are you doing here?”  
“Who are you?.”  
“So you followed me here?”  
“Who are you??”

The questions went flying wildly, yet Hiiro kept quiet. Fists were raised, decks were shuffled, fingers were pointed, but when the noise died down he issued a single command: “Poppy, seal the entrance. No one in or out until all questions are answered.”

Poppy practically saluted as she raced to the door. Hiiro hadn’t even stood up in the kerfuffle, he simply palmed his deck and pointed to Poppy.

“Introductions are in order. Hiiro Kagami, surgeon. That’s Poppy Pipopapo, nurse. You are?” He directed his fingers towards the first intruder. Surprisingly, her posture straightened with such directness.

“Ora, time jacker.”  
“Tsukuyomi, freedom fighter.”  
“Geiz, done with this.”

Geiz’s posture slackened as he reared up to punch Ora. Nobody saw her dodge, one moment she was in front of the fist, the next she was kicking her assailant, sending him topping over with Tsukuyomi quickly moving to pick him up.

“One more introduction to make, although I’m sure you know him already, Kagami-sensei.” Ora brushed her hair back. It wasn’t in her face or anything, but it made for a dramatic flourish as a sixth member manifested within the room.

From thin air came black hair, followed by a lab coat, a colourful t-shirt and red jeans that were absolutely not fit for medical use. Like an avatar spawning in, a familiar body finally filled the clothes. It moved naturally, but the features were vacant. Where there was life and joy in the genuine article, this body was a blank slate. It spoke with a familiar voice and a natural tone, but the face made no movements, as though it were being spoken through rather than speaking.  
“Hojo Emu, paediatrician and 2016 KingRiser champion.”

This broke Hiiro’s demeanour. “Intern?”  
“He’s not real, a time-clone. The real one is still safe.” Tsukuyomi was quick to the point. Ora pouted in response, they had spent enough time together to understand each other’s tricks instinctually, but that didn’t mean they had to ruin the other’s fun.  
_____

The real Emu was too busy bumping into someone else: Tokiwa Sougo, student.  
Somehow the only two moving people in the entire hospital hadn’t seen the other coming. Sougo was starting to notice a trend.

Sougo clutched his sides, another bruise on his already damaged ribcage. He was meant to be here for treatment on his repeated injuries “What’s going on? Why is everyone frozen?”

Emu crawled over to the wounded boy. He had been excused from the CR meeting early to do his rounds, only to find the entire hospital had become still, no one moved. ‘Pause’ didn’t usually work this way and Masamune was locked up, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility.

“Hey, kid. Do you play KingRiser? We might need to fight our way out.”  
_____

“So, you’re here for a fight?” Geiz’s voice was more agitated than furious, he should have known better than to fall for such a simple trick.  
“Correct! But not with you. Sensei, you’re up.”

Hiiro finally rose from his seat and sighed. Today was meant to be simple. Two surgeries, a meeting and a visit to Saki’s grave. That was it. No fighting. No intruders. No time travel. Things had been quiet since Kuroto’s ‘final death’ and that’s how he liked it. But this Geiz kid, he was rearing to go, like a vengeful ghost of his former self.

“Geiz, you’re my second. Now excising the time clone…”

Ora smiled, but the Emu copy did not, even as it spoke.  
“Dai henshin!”


End file.
